| Greetings!
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Neo, Mendelsohn Consulting's compendium of news and ideas on innovation at the intersection of information and software. Aimed at senior executives whose most precious resource is time, this semiannual newsletter focuses on how to grow your information business through innovation. Issues will include:
- Original articles,
- Interviews with innovation gurus and industry leaders,
- Summaries of books, articles and other media, and
- Links to noteworthy events, further reading and technology.
From high-level strategy to down-in-the-trenches tactics, from simply cool to downright outrageous, Neo contributions are relevant, timely and actionable.
Questions? Suggestions? Your feedback is welcome.
Read on! Lead on! |
| New and Noteworthy Technology |
Ever on the lookout for snappy new features, functions and content on the web and, increasingly, mobile platforms, I came across several attention-grabbing technologies this summer. I start this article by highlighting a particularly promising find, Exit Strategy NYC, exploring how it can be expanded and developed, applied to other audiences, and integrated with additional functions and content. Then I list other technologies that impressed me with their combinations of inspiration, design and navigability:
Exit Strategy NYC is an iPhone application that enables users to maximize their "New-York minutes" and shorten travel time by enabling them to figure out where best to position themself on the subway platform. For each New York subway line, the app lists which car door is nearest a staircase and, further, which staircase leads to the user's desired connecting subway line or exit. I admired the simplicity of the app's design and its suitability for the mobile platform. I can picture expanding the service to include schedule information, bus lines and commuter rail exit strategies, and mass transit services for other cities. Also, linking to Google Map's transportation recommendation could be a beautiful thing for business travelers. Imagine getting off the plane, inputting the address of your hotel or meeting and having Exit Strategy list the transportation options with expected travel times and for which train car or bus seat the user should angle! Gliider is a research tool that lets you gather and save travel information from across the web. Users can centralize relevant transportation, hotel and destination links and thumbnails and book travel through the site. Capitalizing on the GPS in phones, Zagat's nru (pronounced "near you") enables users to find nearby restaurants, nightspots, and shopping destinations (and their ratings, of course!) in a sleek interface available on T-mobile G1 and Android phones.
 Spongecell drives yet another nail in the coffin of the banner advertisement. Gone is the passive display ad. This delivery platform enhances ads with interactivity. Users can click on links in a Kohl's ad for women's clothing, for example, and immediately begin browsing sale items. Designed by an SAT tutor, vocabulary building site VocabSushi allows users to practice and master bite-size English word sets before progressing to more advanced sets. Tools enable native and non-native speakers to track their progress over time. |
| Book Review
The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff
By Clara Shih |
In her new book, The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences and Sell More Stuff (Prentice Hall, 2009), Clara Shih, Product Line Director for Salesforce.com's AppExchange, makes a compelling argument for the powers of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites. They add a layer of personalization to an otherwise anonymous internet, she argues, and offer tools for enriching personal and professional relationships. They also can advance business functions such as sales, marketing, innovation and recruiting. Shih suggests that the quest for return on investment in social networks now is as quixotic as it was during the infant stages of the Web; now as then, those who do not begin experimenting with the tools will get left behind. Shih presents step-by-step instructions on how to establish one's presence on social networks and how to maximize their benefits. Hear Clara discuss social media on my panel at SIIA's NetGain 2008 conference. |
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Mendelsohn Consulting is a New York-based strategic consulting firm serving clients in publishing, media, online information services, and technology. Our mission is to help clients develop and grow their digital information businesses through the creation of new products, alliances, mergers and acquisitions. Our advisory services span a broad range of needs, including opportunity assessment, customer research, product portfolio enhancement, business plans and process improvement. Clients call upon us at all stages of their business life cycles. We are proud of our results in helping clients launch new businesses, expand existing businesses, and fix troubled businesses.
Cordially,
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| Featured Interview |
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I recently moderated the panel discussion, "Innovation in the Information Industry," at the Software and Information Industry Association's NetGain 2009 conference in San Francisco. Joining me were: Mark Bernstein, President and Center Director, Palo Alto Research Center; Peter Jackson, Vice President and Chief Scientist, ThomsonReuters; Paul Pluschkell, CEO & Founder, Spigit; and Michael Tchong, Trend Analyst, UberCool. In preparation for the panel discussion, we spoke on two occasions. Read an edited transcript of our exchanges about the promise of turning information into knowledge and the obstacles to achieving it. |
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